On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States issued an emergency declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act in response to the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

(Emergency Declaration). The Emergency Declaration instructed the Secretary of the Treasury “to provide relief from tax deadlines to Americans who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 emergency, as appropriate, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7508A(a).” Pursuant to the Emergency Declaration, this notice provides relief under section 7508A(a) of the Internal Revenue Code for the persons described in section III of this notice that the Secretary of the Treasury has determined to be affected by the COVID-19 emergency.

BACKGROUND

Section 7508A provides the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate (Secretary) with authority to postpone the time for performing certain acts under the internal revenue laws for a taxpayer determined by the Secretary to be affected by a Federally declared disaster as defined in section 165(i)(5)(A). Pursuant to section 7508A(a), a period of up to one year may be disregarded in determining whether the performance of certain acts is timely under the internal revenue laws.

GRANT OF RELIEF

The Secretary has determined that any person with a Federal income tax payment due April 15, 2020, is affected by the COVID-19 emergency for purposes of the relief described in this section III (Affected Taxpayer).

For an Affected Taxpayer, the due date for making Federal income tax payments due April 15, 2020, in an aggregate amount up to the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount, is postponed to July 15, 2020. The Applicable Postponed Payment Amount is up to $10,000,000 for each consolidated group (as defined in §1.1502-1) or for each C corporation that does not join in filing a consolidated return. For all other Affected Taxpayers, the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount is up to $1,000,000 regardless of filing status. For example, the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount is the same for a single individual and for married individuals filing a joint return. In both instances the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount is up to $1,000,000.

The relief provided in this section III is available solely with respect to Federal income tax payments (including payments of tax on self-employment income) due on April 15, 2020, in respect of an Affected Taxpayer’s 2019 taxable year, and Federal estimated income tax payments (including payments of tax on self-employment income) due on April 15, 2020, for an Affected Taxpayer’s 2020 taxable year.

The Applicable Postponed Payment Amounts described in this section III include, in the aggregate, all payments described in the preceding sentence due on April 15, 2020 for such Affected Taxpayers.

No extension is provided in this notice for the payment or deposit of any other type of Federal tax, or for the filing of any tax return or information return.

As a result of the postponement of the due date for making Federal income tax payments up to the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, the period beginning on April 15, 2020, and ending on July 15, 2020, will be disregarded in the calculation of any interest, penalty, or addition to tax for failure to pay the Federal income taxes postponed by this notice. Interest, penalties, and additions to tax with respect to such postponed Federal income tax payments will begin to accrue on July 16, 2020. In addition, interest, penalties and additions to tax will accrue, without any suspension or deferral, on the amount of any Federal income tax payments in excess of the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount due but not paid by an Affected Taxpayer on April 15, 2020.

Affected Taxpayers subject to penalties or additions to tax despite the relief granted by this section III may seek reasonable cause relief under section 6651 for a failure to pay tax or seek a waiver to a penalty under section 6654 for a failure by an individual or certain trusts and estates to pay estimated income tax, as applicable. Similar relief with respect to estimated tax payments is not available for corporate taxpayers or tax-exempt organizations under section 6655.

DRAFTING INFORMATION

The principal author of this notice is Jennifer Auchterlonie of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel, Procedure and Administration. For further information regarding this notice, you may call (202) 317-3400 (not a toll-free call).

On March 17, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury announced during a televised White House conference that there is a three-month extension of time to pay for taxes otherwise due by April 15th.

While some news outlets are reporting that this is a fait-accompli, let us be clear that there has been no official declaration from the IRS pertaining to these statements.

Further, we are not at all sure as to what types of taxes or taxpayers are included in the relief. Once we have received a definitive declaration from the IRS, we will post that updated information here.
Meanwhile we continue to service all our clients and work to meet the existing timelines.
Should you have any questions please call us for clarification. Most importantly take care of yourselves and loved ones during this challenging time for our country, and the world.